Jury Convicts Green in Swimmer's Killing

For the second time in three years, a Polk County jury has convicted an Auburndale man to life imprisonment for the 2007 murder of a former star swimmer at Lake Region High School.

By CHASE PURDYTHE LEDGER

BARTOW | For the second time in three years, a Polk County jury has convicted an Auburndale man to life imprisonment for the 2007 murder of a former star swimmer at Lake Region High School.

Perhaps this time the verdict will stick.

Following about three hours of deliberation, the jury of five men and seven women convicted Jeffrey L. Green Jr., 27, in the killing of Robert W. Cameron, 19, of Winter Haven.

In addition to first-degree murder, the jury found Green guilty of armed burglary and armed robbery.

It marked the second time Green found himself in a Polk County courtroom for Cameron's death. In 2008, he was sentenced to a life in prison.

But the 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled in February 2010 that Green deserved a new trial because Assistant State Attorney John Aguero made improper comments during the original closing arguments.

The court's opinion concluded that Aguero's use of the word "refused" to characterize Green's right to remain silent during interviews with detectives may have tainted the jury's perception of the man.

As Aguero closed his case before the new jurors Thursday morning, Green leaned forward and listened intently from behind a nearby desk, flanked by two defense attorneys.

Over the course of the 11-day trial, the prosecutor assembled much of his argument using phone records and testimony by several men, each convicted co-defendants, involved in the shooting.

Aguero said the shooting started out as an attempt to steal marijuana from Cameron at his second-floor condominium at the Winterset complex on Cypress Gardens Boulevard.

"These guys were all out of their wits," Aguero said. "They went to go steal something and it all went bad."

Authorities said one person waited in a get-away car while four others sneaked to the back balcony of Cameron's home.

Green and one other man entered through an unlocked sliding screen door, Aguero said.

Once inside, Cameron and Green "tussled" in a bedroom until a gunshot rang throughout the house, he said.

Defense attorney Matthew Farmer warned jurors to take careful consideration of the testimony by men he claimed "cooked up" a story for police to implicate Green.

Farmer further cast suspicion on a man connected to Green and Cameron, Kelly B. Washington. The lawyer said Washington had a motive to harm Cameron and later took a plea deal from authorities.

"This was all about bringing the muscle so that Kelly Washington could get his personal meeting with Robert Cameron," Farmer said.

In his rebuttal, Aguero warned jurors of buying into an argument that other men conspired to create a fake story about Green's involvement.

"There can't be a crime in hell and have angels for witnesses," he said. "They're all criminals. There isn't any evidence at all to support some theory (of conspiracy)."

Farmer described Green as a man with a stable life, a job, and no motive to try and rob anyone of a $400 stash of marijuana.

To illustrate his point, the attorney argued authorities could not prove Green's whereabouts the night of the killing, presented no forensic evidence that placed him at the scene and never recovered a murder weapon.

"There is ample reasonable doubt that Mr. Green went in Robert Cameron's condominium and shot him," he said. "The only reasonable finding in this case is not guilty in all three cases."

The jury didn't agree.

As they filed back into the courtroom, Green's family and friends linked arms at the rear of the courtroom. His mother, Marquita Burse, whispered to herself.

Upon the reading of the verdict, the family's spirit deflated. Some left the courtroom.

Green looked stone-faced.

As Cameron's mother exited the room, she staved off tears.

Circuit Court Judge Donald G. Jacobsen said Green would be sentenced Aug. 11 at 9 a.m. He faces a mandatory life sentence on the murder charge.

[ Chase Purdy can be reached at chase.purdy@theledger.com or 802-7516. ]